Paragraph Topic sentence Supporting sentences Concluding sentence Different ways of paragraph development. A topic sentence is the sentence that introduces the main idea in the paragraph. It is ...

The word essay derives from the title of a 1580 collection of writings by the Frenchman Michel de Montaigne. In his Essays, Montaigne set down his thoughts on whatever subject snared his ...

Extended "discourse," such as class presentations or essays written as school assignments, has a particular structure arising from particular expectations and standards. Such structure, expectations, ...